Growing Pains: Ways To Know If You Are Emotionally Immature

Growing Pains: Ways To Know If You Are Emotionally Immature

All of us get old, but sad to say only a few grow up to be mature individuals. You might say that by 21 you are already a full-grown man or woman who is a lot wiser than those who are younger. But before you boast of your seniority by telling people around that you are already ripe for the picking, take time to read the following scenarios to know if you had really grown up or had just grown old.

• Independence Day. You are in a mall full of people when you realized that you are the only person who’s walking alone. A feeling of self-pity swept over you and tears started forming in your eyes, just waiting to fall. You started walking fast with head low while frantically texting your friend to hurry up at your rendezvous. If this scene sounds familiar and if you can very well relate to it, then welcome to the “Baby Sitter’s Baby Club.” The thought of being alone in a place full of people and eating by your lonesome in a fast food probably scares you, which isn’t supposed to be the case. Mature people are self-confident enough to be alone in public because they don’t acknowledge it as a sign of weakness.

• Can Hardly Decide. You are on a long queue to get your college application form. A few minutes later, you find yourself staring at the form, specifically on the field where you have to write down your preferred course. You immediately turned to your best friend who is busy filling up her form. “Hey, what course are you going to take?” “I’ll be taking up Journalism, you?” “Oh! I still don’t know, what do you think should I take up? Can I just take up your course instead so that we’ll still be together in college?” Relying on someone to make decisions for you is a clear-cut sign that you are still emotionally immature. Grow up kid! You can’t rely on anybody to make the decisions for you all the time. You need to figure out what’s best for you and quit mimicking other people. For instance, you should place it upon yourself to determine whether you should join the drama club or not.

• That thing you do. There’s an office project that you have chosen to involve yourself in. During the presentation of your assignment, the big boss noticed many things that he disliked and kept on dissing you and your work. All of a sudden, you defended yourself by justifying that it was not your fault since you were just a member and not the leader. That is such a childish thing to do! Whether you are the leader or the lowest ranking member in a group, everyone involved in the task are considered to be responsible for everything. Putting the blame on other people just to clean up your name is an obvious indication that you are still an immature person who can’t handle criticisms. Therefore, you have the propensity to pass on the accountability to others.

• Me, Myself, and I. Your friend, who had just arrived from Paris, can’t help but gab about how her trip went. It seems that all eyes and ears are on her so you interrupt with your own version of “how Paris is so last season and New Zealand is the new ‘in’ thing.” Before you turn into a green-eyed monster, pause for a while and remind yourself that your self-centeredness can be irritating to others. For once, go down the stage and let other people bathe in the spotlight. You can’t have the limelight all the time.